The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread

This is a discussion on The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread within Motorbikes, part of the BHP India category; faced my 1st issue - front fork oil seal leak. Running behind the KTM service centre now as this is ...

Thank you for the link.
The way I read it, EBC has a rather justified dislike for the name many refer to as DOT 5.1 so they call this high temperature fluid BF 307.

As the link points out, DOT 5 (without the .1) is a silicon based fluid and it is totally incompatible with the Glycol based DOT 3 and DOT 4 fluids.

I learned this the hard way over 20 years ago when DOT 5 Silicone based fluid came on the market.

I had read the DOT 5 silicon based fluid does not draw moisture out of the air like the Glycol based fluids can do so I decided I wanted to replace the DOT 3 fluid in my BMW motorcycle with it.

Although I used the DOT 5 fluid to flush out my disk brake system many times before giving it a final filling I did not understand that the DOT 5 fluid was incompatible with the hoses and seals in my motorcycles brake system.

About a month after making the conversion my brake caliper piston seals began to leak and the master cylinder would "leak down" if I maintained pressure on the brake lever.

I took it to my BMW dealer and he said that the flexible hoses were also deteriorating and it would require the replacement of every rubber part in the system.
More hundreds of dollars than I like to think about were spent fixing my mistake but when it was done, it lasted for many years using good old DOT 3 fluid.

Many of my riding buddies felt that a track day on the IRCs would be "interesting". Quite honestly, the tyre has performed brilliantly on the streets and not given me a reason to complain. But track days are a different animal. Be it on the straights, cornering or braking - you are at the absolute limit. How would this 2800 rupee tyre hold; I wondered

Glad to report, the tyre performed brilliantly. Even when leaned over at peg grinding levels, the tyre never misbehaved or felt like its about to let loose. I did feel some swaying while on the back straight, but other folks including Mehul complained of the same (He was on Metz). My guess is it could be the cross winds, or maybe because the tyre was at its very limit. The tyre's speed rating is "S", which translates to 180 KPH (112 MPH). For touring, commuting and even an occasional track day, I whole heartedly recommend this tyre

Ride safe!

Hi Urban_Nomad, very pleased to hear that the IRC road winners performed well.For 2800 they look like absolute steal. This report puts to rest the negative reports that some of my friends who have IRC RX01 on their Ninjas . Where did you purchase them? Are they available online?

My 390 is closing in on 18k kms and i just found this yesterday. There is a visible oily residue on the head region of the block. Both behind the radiator and the rear of the block above the throttle body. Since both places are not easily visible to the eyes in normal inspection the leak has somehow gone unnoticed. I was removing the belly pan to clean the muck and that's when i noticed the oily remaining. It seems to be leaking from the valve cover gasket. I have already changed the gasket 8k kms back in July and got it re sealed. But at that time it was only a weep.

Read in motorcyclist magazine that the reason for significant number of 390 head gasket failures is imperfect head surfacing and the head getting warped when the bike overheats

I was almost about to replace DOT4 with DOT5 on the 390, reason being, it was advised by grease house of indimotard. Recently got the front brake system bled from Autoservice and they suggested to stick to DOT4, also DOT5 was not available. After bleeding and servicing the brake system, the feel and braking seems to have improved.

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faced my 1st issue - front fork oil seal leak. Running behind the KTM service centre now as this is out of stock :(

Is it the front right side fork? I have had 5 times seal failure on the same, and just got the bike a couple of days back, after fixing the last broken seal. At 2nd failure, even the downtube was replaced with a new one, still the issue kept surfacing. One more time, and i will replace the entire right side fork assembly with a new one. f
was talking to a Bajaj representative about frequent seal failures on the 390, and surprisingly, he shrugged it off as one-off cases. Mentioning that if there were about 20 cases reported, the company would take the issue as a panic situation and work towards resolving it. I left it by saying that team bhp is full of reports of broken fork oil seals.

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Do not expect any freebies from ktm. They didnt even give me a keychain worth Rs 100 for free.

Bajaj, KTM and Kawasaki brothers are full kanjoos. I insisted on atleast a kawasaki keychain while taking the versys, to which they surprisingly agreed. What they gave was a puny rubber keychain, locally made, with KHIVRAJ KAWASAKI embossed. It was so so bad, i just chucked it somewhere. Another thing irritating is giving measly 3 lts of fuel at the time of delivery. For a 2.5 L bike, least they can do it give a full tank. Not that Duke tank is big.

Ok, tomorrow i am planning to add some foam (about an inch) to the rider seat of my 390, as i feel the seat is become harder over time. Not much particular about how it would look, would be fine as long as comfort factor improves. Can i re-use the OEM seat cover? can it be removed without damaging it? Has anyone tried something similar? Any pointers would be helpful.

Can i re-use the OEM seat cover? can it be removed without damaging it? Has anyone tried something similar? Any pointers would be helpful.

With a little jugaad you should be able to if the seat guy is careful in removing the seat cover without damaging it. Adding extra foam might render the cover a little short on the sides due to the increased height. But there is always some extra cover left during the stapling process. A good seat maker should be able to retain the original cover.

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Ok, tomorrow i am planning to add some foam (about an inch) to the rider seat of my 390, as i feel the seat is become harder over time. Not much particular about how it would look, would be fine as long as comfort factor improves. Can i re-use the OEM seat cover? can it be removed without damaging it? Has anyone tried something similar? Any pointers would be helpful.

Sir,

Instead of adding foam (Which I had added initially and suffered for it after a few months), I'd suggest adding a slab of gel on the existing seat.
I added a half-inch of gel which I bought from Bikingspirit and got a seat cover added to it.
Its made a world of difference in terms of comfort on the saddle and added just half-an-inch to the saddle height.

Instead of adding foam (Which I had added initially and suffered for it after a few months), I'd suggest adding a slab of gel on the existing seat.
I added a half-inch of gel which I bought from Bikingspirit and got a seat cover added to it.
Its made a world of difference in terms of comfort on the saddle and added just half-an-inch to the saddle height.

Thanks. did you cut a small recess in the OEM foam and added the gel pad? or did you wrap the whole seat with gel sheet? any reference pics of WIP would be great help. Just wanted to understand how its done. I am ok with a little increase in saddle height. Did you do the mod yourself or was it done at Rao's?

I too got my seat padded recently with foam. I was actually happy with the seat in general and found it really supportive, however I always felt I could use a little more space and relieve some pressure from the knees (taller seat = lesser bend in knees) and therefore wanted a taller saddle

The seat height has increased by roughly 1.5 inches and while it has become roomier, the forward lean has increased too. Plus, I got the seat wrapped in that net / Jaali type cover which is super slippery and takes more effort to keep yourself in place when you are braking hard; especially if you have a pillion with you

This weekend, I am getting a jugaad type handlebar riser made to make the seating position more upright and will get the jaali removed. Will keep everyone posted on the outcome